Tuesday, August 21, 2012

Comedy of errors: On Monday, Robert Webb was certified as a candidate for position 10 on the Little Rock City Board, in opposition to incumbent Joan Adcock. Kaitlin Lott of Occupy Little Rock was not, because the city clerk couldn't validate a total of 50 registered voters on Lott's petitions. One of those names on Lott's petition: Robert Webb.

Webb, who lives at 2209 S. Martin St., once lived at 2301 S. Martin, the address he gave on Lott's petition, according to David Couch, who wrote the city clerk today that he was representing Lott and Adam Lansky in their attempt to have the names on their petitions recounted and their candidacies certified.

Webb said he can't remember what he wrote on Lott's petition, but as it turns out, 2301 S. Martin is the address on his voter registration card, which he hasn't updated. "It shouldn't matter," Webb said. "It's all silly." Webb said he knows that nicknames can also invalidate the signatures of people who are truly registered voters, so he turned in 120 signatures to play it safe.

Couch says that the clerk incorrectly found that Robert Webb (of 2301 S. Martin St.), Elizabeth Gould (of 7201 Kentucky Ave.) and Barbara Jones (of 1312 Madison Street, Apt. D), who had signed Lott's petition for the position 10 seat, were not registered voters. He also says that another name that was struck initially but then reinstated was not counted, bringing Lott's signatures to the required 50.

Couch said Lansky's petition also included Webb's name, and the signature of Angela Gardner (of 516 E. 8th St.), who Couch said is a registered voter. Couch also said one checked name was inadvertently not counted. Lansky had filed to run for the Position 8 seat held by incumbent Dr. Dean Kumpuris.

The City Board is meeting in about 15 minutes, so I couldn't get in touch with clerk Susan Langley or City Attorney Tom Carpenter to see what will happen next.

More by Leslie Newell Peacock

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